Importing MS Project 97

[shawad2]

I have MS Project 97 for the PC and something equivalent for the Mac. There
are a lot of users at my company and we all have Project 97. We were
planning to upgrade to the 2003 series of products, but it looks like Project
will be a problem. Can you add the capability to do this directly.

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi shawad2 ,

Welcome to this Microsoft Project newsgroup

Please see FAQ Item: 27. Project 4 to Project 2000.

FAQs, companion products and other useful Project information can be seen at
this web address: http://www.mvps.org/project/

Hope this helps - please let us know how you get on

Mike Glen
Project MVP

 

[Steve House [MVP]]

What do you mean by "do this directly?" Are you asking about issues
surrounding upgrading the software itself from P98 to P2003 or are you
concerned about being able to open data files saved in P97 once you've
completed the upgrade?

 

[John]

I have MS Project 97 for the PC and something equivalent for the Mac. There
are a lot of users at my company and we all have Project 97. We were
planning to upgrade to the 2003 series of products, but it looks like Project
will be a problem. Can you add the capability to do this directly.

shawad2,
You mention a couple of things that beg a few questions.

First you indicated that both PCs and Macs are used in your company. Be
aware that MS stopped upgrading and supporting Project for Mac several
years ago. The "latest" version that runs directly on a Mac is version
4.0 which is equivalent to Project 97 for the PC. How many users at your
company have Macs compared to PCs? Normally the proportion is many PCs
and a few Macs but some companies that do a lot of graphics or photo
work may have the opposite blend. If you still need to use Project on
Macs, then you basically have two choices - don't upgrade (i.e. stick
with Project 97) or upgrade to a later version (it doesn't have to be
Project 2003) but plan on using Virtual PC on the Macs (that is what I
use).

Everybody likes to think that newer versions are better. Well, taint
necessarily so. The latest versions of Project have a lot more
functional capability and more whistles and bells, but sometimes all the
users need is good basic scheduling software. The determining factor is
compatibility among users within your company and outside your company.
If Project 97 is really doing everything you need and you don't need to
share Project information with outside users who have later versions,
then why upgrade?

Anyway, that's my two cents. And no, I don't have a cell phone but I do
drive a horseless carriage.

John

 

[Steve House [MVP]]

Have you heard they've actually got some kind of crazy flying machine a man
can actually ride inside! An I hear tell up North they've even got movin'
pitchers!

 

[shawad2]

Steve,

Actually it's your last thought. I have a Mac at home and have P4.0 on it.
I go to work and I have P97 ( so does every one else, at least that's what
the IBM support desk installed on our PCs.) I can currently go back and
forth with no problems. Work is currently threatening to upgrade every one
to the 2003 software and knowing (and a little guessing) how much the 97 is
deployed, this is going to hurt.

I wasn't even thinking of this until taking my Capstone for a Masters in
Project Management and my class mate passed me a file, saying here you go.
The rest is history.


Andrew

 

[shawad2]

Mike,

Thanks. I checked out the instructions, and fortuneately, I don't have too
many P4.0 files, though that will be a problem. I was thinking more of where
I work and al the P97 stuff that there is there.

Andrew

 

[Steve House [MVP]]

Take a look on the FAQs (forgot which number it is right off hand) for the
discussion on moving pre-98 files into later versions. A little preparation
before they do the upgrade can save you major headaches later.

--
Steve House [MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

 

[Mike Glen]

You're welcome, Andrew.

I believe P97 is Project version 4.1, so you're not out of the woods! I
would suggest you get a copy of P98 from ebay and use that to affect the
upgrade. It's one of the side effects one gets when delaying upgrades for 8
years!

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP

 

[John]

Have you heard they've actually got some kind of crazy flying machine a man
can actually ride inside! An I hear tell up North they've even got movin'
pitchers!

WOW!!!

I assume by movin' pitchers you mean all the MLB trades that are
occurring in the off-season.

John

 

[John]

Steve,

Actually it's your last thought. I have a Mac at home and have P4.0 on it.
I go to work and I have P97 ( so does every one else, at least that's what
the IBM support desk installed on our PCs.) I can currently go back and
forth with no problems. Work is currently threatening to upgrade every one
to the 2003 software and knowing (and a little guessing) how much the 97 is
deployed, this is going to hurt.

I wasn't even thinking of this until taking my Capstone for a Masters in
Project Management and my class mate passed me a file, saying here you go.
The rest is history.


Andrew

Andrew,
Sounds like a problem similar to what I face every day. If you want to
keep your Mac at home, (and I can certainly understand why), get a copy
of Virtual PC. Version 7 is the latest but even earlier versions (I
currently use 5.0.4) work very well with non-Mac MS apps. You will of
course have to get your own copy of Project to use at home unless your
company has a corporate agreement that allows employees to copy
application software for home use. However, make sure you check.
Software piracy is not good for anybody.

If you do have to buy your own copy of Project for home use and your
company upgrades to version 2003, you don't necessarily need that
version at home. Project 2000 can be had for a reasonable price from
on-line auctions and although it doesn't have some of the features of
Project 2003, it is still compatible.

Again, my thoughts.
John

 

[shawad2]

Mike,

Thanks. The long way around, but you're right. Thanks again for he
suggestion.

Andrew